Crotalaria spectabilis |
Crotalaria ochroleuca |
|
|---|---|---|
|
rattlebox, showy crotalaria, showy rattlebox |
slender leaf rattlebox |
|
| Habit | Herbs annual. | Herbs annual or short-lived perennial. |
| Stems | suffrutescent basally, erect, 50–150 cm, glabrous. |
erect, 70–250 cm, strigose. |
| Leaves | unifoliolate; stipules ovate to ovate-lanceolate, not decurrent on stem, 4–7 mm; blade obovate to elliptic, 50–150 mm, length 1.5–2.5 times width, surfaces glaucous, strigose abaxially, glabrous-punctate adaxially. |
3-foliolate; stipules absent; leaflet blades linear to linear-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, 50–130(–180) mm, length 7–10 times width, surfaces strigose abaxially, glabrous adaxially. |
| Racemes | 12–22-flowered, terminal, subterminal, or lateral, 10–50 cm; bracts persistent, cordate-auriculate, 5–8 mm. |
4–12-flowered, terminal or subterminal, 15–40 cm; bracts persistent, linear-triangular, minute. |
| Flowers | calyx broadly cylindrical, 10–15 mm, lobes triangular-lanceolate, glabrous; corolla bright yellow, faintly red-lined, 17–25 mm. |
calyx broadly cylindrical, truncate basally, 4–6 mm, lobes triangular, shiny-glabrous; corolla pale yellow with prominent reddish purple lines, 18–20 mm. |
| Legumes | 30–45 × 10–20 mm, glabrous. |
straight, (40–)50–70 × (10–)15–20 mm, sparsely strigose or glabrescent. |
| 2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Crotalaria spectabilis |
Crotalaria ochroleuca |
|
| Phenology | Flowering (Jan–)Aug–Oct (year-round). | Flowering Apr–Oct. |
| Habitat | Grassy or fallow fields, roadsides, ditches, borrow pits, lake edges, disturbed areas. | Roadsides, ditches, prairie swales, sandy fields. |
| Elevation | 10–200 m. [30–700 ft.] | 0–10 m. [0–30 ft.] |
| Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; SC; TN; TX; VA; Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Indian Ocean Islands (Reúnion), Pacific Islands]
|
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America (Brazil), Asia (China), Pacific Islands (Papua New Guinea), Australia] |
| Discussion | In Texas, Crotalaria spectabilis is known from Brazos, Cameron, Karnes, and Liberty counties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Crotalaria ochroleuca has often been identified in the United States as C. intermedia Kotschy or C. brevidens Bentham var. intermedia (Kotschy) Polhill. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
| Parent taxa | ||
| Sibling taxa | ||
| Synonyms | C. retzii | |
| Name authority | Roth: Nov. Pl. Sp., 341. (1821) | G. Don: Gen. Hist. 2: 138. (1832) |
| Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
| Web links | ||